


The Way I Feel (When I'm With You)

by claudine



Category: Transistor (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Related, Chocolate Box Treat, F/F, First Meetings, Non-Camerata AU, Pre-Canon, Vignettes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-19 05:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9420437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/claudine/pseuds/claudine
Summary: Red is refreshingly real in a way few are, anymore. In a society with less, she would have been a bona fide starving artist.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hero_of_Denerim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hero_of_Denerim/gifts).



> Happy Valentine’s, Hero_of_Denerim!! I hope you enjoy the treat—I practically pounced on the chance to write it. :)

**00110001.**  
It starts out as a piqued interest.

Red is... startling in a way that Sybil can’t quite pinpoint. It’s not that her looks are particularly special—everyone who attends Cloudbank’s events is impeccably-dressed: sometimes loud, _definitely_ stylish. Always quick to start a trend or adopt it, try the newest cafés, create buzz around the hottest indie songstress on the block. Sybil enjoys it all. It makes her feel like a contributing member of society to be in charge of the things that make Cloudbank such a bustling, vibrant city. 

But underneath, Sybil can admit that the glitz sometimes rings hollow. It’s a numbers game: how many eyes, and how long you can capture the populace’s fickle attention before it moves on to the next big thing. The desperation to be a trend-setter feels almost tangible. Sharks in the hottest lip colour of the season.

Red is refreshingly real in a way few are, anymore. In a society with less, she would have been a bona fide starving artist.

 

 **00110010.**  
Sybil notices Red from the start, but it’s in the little glances she gets of her that keep her long in her mind. 

The first time they work together is an intimate affair in _La Coupe D'or_ , a small bar she’d haggled the evening slot for. It’s marketed as an event for upcoming new artistes, although the reality is that the annual event schedule had been shifted around and she’d had to make do. She worked late hours on that: canvassing hard for demos, listening to everyone that had submitted. The list is finished with eight names.

 _La Coupe D'or_ is smoky and poorly lit, crammed with all of fifty people. There’s a mic stand at the front with a couple of wooden chairs. Here, the patrons are dressed in a style that’s a little less glamorous. Leather, both functional in the cold of the artificial winter, and flatteringly-cut. Boots a little scuffed, makeup colours muted.

When they cheer as Red sings her final line, Sybil knows that she’s got a gem in her hands. She just doesn’t expect how popular Red is going to get.

 

 **00110011.**  
Red’s new-found fame gives Sybil an opportunity to ask her out. 

Sybil plans a proper music festival, a high society wine-taster, and then a picnic. In between, she sends texts to Red, occasionally asking her about her songs or sending her funny stories about her events. She sends pictures of dresses she thinks Red would look lovely in. Red doesn’t say a lot, but she always responds with a hahaha :) at the least. Sometimes Sybil worries that Red is just humouring her, but Red doesn’t seem to be the kind of person who would reply for the sake of courtesy. 

A picnic with Red sounds lovely, and the event-planner in her thinks it’ll be excellent publicity as well.

Be my plus one? :) ❤︎❤︎, she sends, under the link to the pop-up of the invite.

She cannot stop smiling when she receives Red’s reply.

 

 **00110100.**  
Under the perfectly adjusted climate, Sybil sits on a picnic mat and sighs. Red is beside her, eating a cheese sandwich. Sybil is in her favourite dress, a sleeveless number in ivory with tiny embroidered flowers, light enough for summer but suitably dressy for the event.

“Lemonade?” Sybil asks, smiling at Red.

“Please,” Red says. She takes the cup from her and their fingers brush. Sybil feels it all the way up her arm. Her cheeks heat, and she hopes that Red feels it too.

“It’s nice,” Red says absently. Sybil stills and listens. “Just sitting here, enjoying the weather. It’s nice not to think.”

“You don’t think when you’re with me?” Sybil teases.

“It’s nice to relax, I meant,” Red says. She turns to look at Sybil and smiles. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“I’ll need a picture of you for our newsletter.” 

Red laughs. 

 

 **00110101.**  
The cover image for the picnic feature that month is of Red, looking off-screen, a hand under her chin. Her lips are curved in a smile, and she looks lovely in the simple yellow dress that Sybil had brought to her attention.

It becomes easier after that. The unease Sybil felt about their interactions falls away, like it’d never been there. She still talks a lot more between the both of them, but Red always listens. It’s unexpected when Red says something out of the blue, and her wit makes Sybil laugh. It's... wonderful.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [faealien](http://faealien.tumblr.com/) for uploading their beautiful [Red/Sybil playlist](https://playmoss.com/en/roobie/playlist/finally-finally-finally) to Playmoss, to which this was written to.
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](http://johanen.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
